Less than 24 hours after the Junior A encounter with Danesfort, Piltown hosted Naomh Eoin in the JJ Kavanagh & Sons All County Junior Hurling League on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon, the 25th March 2017. It was a tough, physical game and Piltown were certainly up to the task.
Naomh Eoin raised the first white flag of the afternoon with a point from their corner forward. Martin Power opened Piltown’s scoring with a point from a converted free in the second minute. A fine sideline ball from Ian Long to Martin Power was quickly passed to Aidan Nugent who sent it high over the bar for a lovely point. Naomh Eoin added a point from a converted free in the sixth minute. Shortly after, Darragh Walsh sent a great ball down the wing to David Kinsella and with a quick pass to Ian Long, Ian evaded his marker and struck an unstoppable ball to raise Piltown’s first green flag of the afternoon. Another point from Naomh Eoin brought us to the 10th minute and from a quick James Norris puckout, Neil Kelly found Ian Long who in turn found Ronan Ryan and Ronan tapped it over the bar. Peter McCarthy, defending well at half back, scored a fine long range point in the 12th minute following a pass from David Kinsella. Naomh Eoin tried many times to break through the Piltown defence & head for goal but had to settle for another two points, one from a converted free. Another great puckout from James Norris was won by Neil Kelly who made it look easy by simply turning & sending the ball straight over the bar.
During the next five minutes, Martin Power scored two points within two minutes, one from a converted free and Naomh Eoin added three to their scoreline, one from a converted free. With only minutes to go to the halftime whistle, Ronan Ryan won a breaking ball out on the wing & with a quick pass to Neil Kelly in the centre, Neil spotted John Kenny in the open & John drilled home Piltown’s second goal of the afternoon. Naomh Eoin closed out the first half with another point. HT score Piltown 2-7 Naomh Eoin 0-9.
Neil Kelly wasted no time at the restart and within 13 seconds, the ball was flying high over the bar for a great point from Neil. Naomh Eoin quickly responded with a point from midfield and two minutes later had to settle for another point from a 65 thanks to great defending by Mixer O’Dwyer & Seamus Norris. James Norris’ puckouts were on target and this time he found Ian Long who scored a lovely point in the 33rd minute. Naomh Eoin dominated the play for the next 12 minutes, scoring five points, one a cracking sideline ball from their midfielder. Shane Walsh contributed to Piltown’s third and final goal of the afternoon, linking up with the ever reliable Neil Kelly who again found John Kenny who rattled the Naomh Eoin net for a second time. Ronan Ryan was instrumental in Martin Power’s next point, winning the Piltown puckout & with a quick flick to Martin, the ball was flying high over the bar for a wonderful point. Philly Kenny put his mark on the game with a lovely point in the 53rd minute, again from a Neil Kelly handoff. Peter McCarthy, winning a Naomh Eoin puckout, sent the ball up the field, eventually finding Jamie Norris who pointed with ease. The final five minutes saw both sides increase their intensity and with two points from Naomh Eoin and points for Neil Kelly, Aidan Nugent & a converted free from Martin Power, Piltown closed out the match six points up. FT score Piltown 3-15 Naomh Eoin 0-18.
Piltown panel: James Norris, Tom Kenny, Seamus Norris, Mixer O’Dwyer, Shane Walsh, Darragh Walsh, Peter McCarthy (0-1), Martin Power (0-5, 0-3f), Aidan Nugent (0-2), Ian Long (1-1), Neil Kelly (0-3), David Kinsella, John Kenny (2-0), Ronan Ryan (0-1), Shane O’Dwyer. Subs: Philly Kenny (0-1), Shane Doody, Jamie Norris (0-1), Aaron Gallagher.
